Ahmadinejad on the Hudson

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to New York has turned into a doozy. The city where Fidel Castro called JFK "ignorant," Yasser Arafat packed a pistol on his hip, and Nikita Khrushchev banged the UN podium with his shoe, has gone after Ahmadinejad with a vengeance.

"Bearded blowhard" said the New York Post. "Petty, cruel dictator" said Columbia University president Lee C. Bollinger — to the face of his invited guest.

Ahmadinejad is delivering some doozies of his own. But behind all the theater, there is a real risk of brutal war.

This hour, On Point: the US, Iran, and Ahmadinejad in New York.Guests:

Robin Wright, diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post.

Richard Bulliet, professor of Middle East history at Columbia University, author of "The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization," and an organizer of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the university.

Patrick Clawson, deputy director for research of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and co-author of "Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos."